Friday, August 28, 2009

CONTEST TODAY!!! One RCC wins a copy of "Surrender of a Siren"courtesy of Tessa! Have email addy avlb in comment or blggr profile to enter, pls.

Buongiorno, Michelle and Bellas! Last month, you were good enough to invite me over to talk about Jeremy, the hero of "Goddess of the Hunt." Today, I’m here to dish about the hero of book two in the trilogy, Regency Bachelor #2, the deliciously devilish Gray from "Surrender of a Siren." And of course, share an exclusive excerpt!

Name: Benedict “Gray” GraysonAge: 32Appearance: A study in contradictions. He’s described as having “a laborer’s body, the clothes of a gentleman, and the wide, sensuous mouth of a scoundrel.” He has auburn hair—dark brown, with reddish undertones—and eyes that vary from green to blue to gray, depending. A thin scar slants from his chin to his mouth, and its origin is the subject of much speculation on the part of Sophia, the heroine. For most of the book, he’s scruffy and unshaven, which adds to his rugged, roguish appeal.Occupation: Former privateer, now shipping financier. And he’s the head of a patched-together family that includes one half-brother, one half-sister, and a young nephew.Personality: Good-humored, charismatic, cocky, sexy, and fiercely loyal when it counts. He dislikes violence, but isn’t above it. A lifelong libertine and a natural leader, he’s more than a bit dangerous—to his enemies, as well as to the ladies. In short, he’s a bad boy with good intentions, sharing close quarters with temptation personified. And this makes for one very frustrated man.

Here’s part of a conversation Gray has with his brother Joss, who is the captain of the Aphrodite. You see, Gray has impulsively allowed a winsome little governess (Sophia, in disguise) to set sail with them on their voyage to the West Indies. And despite his best intentions to leave debauchery behind and turn over a new leaf as a respectable businessman, Gray’s having trouble keeping his hands off the goods…and for surprisingly sentimental reasons. Joss is not amused.

Exclusive Excerpt: “Stay away from the girl, Gray.”

Gray sighed. “We’re on the same ship. I can’t help but be near her. I’ll not promise to refrain from touching her either, because the girl seems to lose her footing whenever I’m around. But I give you my word I’ll not kiss her again. Satisﬁed?”

Joss shook his head. “Give me your word you won’t bed her.”

“What a legend you’re making me! Insinuating I could bed her without even kissing her ﬁrst.” Gray worried the edge of his thumbnail as he considered. “That might prove an amusing challenge, now that you suggest it.”

Joss shot him an incredulous look. “With some other lady, on some other ship.”

Gray raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “I’ll not bed her. You have my word. And don’t think that’s not a great sacriﬁce, because it is. I’d have her in two, three days at the most, I tell you.”

“Once again—not amusing.”

“For God’s sake, Joss, it’s a joke. What do you want, an apology? I’m sorry for kissing Miss Turner’s hand, all right?”

Joss shook his head and ﬂipped open the logbook. “No, you’re not.”“Yes, I am.” The odd thing of it was, Gray was telling the truth. He knew he was being an ass, but the joking was easier than honesty. For all his teasing, he hadn’t kissed her hand with the intent to seduce, or to judge if she tasted as sweet as he’d dreamed. He’d kissed her ﬁngers for one reason only. Because they were trembling, and he’d wanted them to stop. It was wholly unlike him, that kiss. It was not a gesture he thought it wise to repeat. The girl did something strange to him.

Bellas, who are your favorite “bad boy” or scoundrel heroes? Two that always come immediately to mind for me are Dain from Loretta Chase's "Lord of Scoundrels" and Derek Craven from Lisa Kleypas' "Dreaming of You."

Hi Tessa! I finished SOAS last night and loved every word. Gray is definitely a naughty, sexy, delicious scoundrel and sailing with him and Sophia was such fun. I do hope we'll be seeing much more of him in "A Lady of Persuasion".

Lisa Kleypas does bad boys so well, doesn't she? Derek Craven is right up there on my list, along with St. Vincent and Hardy Cates. Harry Rutledge, the hero in her upcoming Tempt Me at Twilight is another delicious bad boy who is going to set hearts aflutter.

Another bad boy high on my list of favorites is Adrik Wilder from Christina Dodd's Into the Shadow. Yum!

My. Gawd! I thought I couldn't get any more excited than I was over GOTH. But SIREN? Yikers. How flippin romantic and exciting (SHIPBOARD!!!) and holy-beejeepers HAWT!!!

Yes. I simply must use all those capital letters to express my excitement about this novel and Tessa's writing. Her novels, for me, are ones that can be 'sunk into,' rather than simply read for enjoyment. The reading experience is a cut above. I mean, I'll read just about any romance for the fun and 'love' of it. But when an author and book's the real deal, it's just like Nirvana (the destination, not the group, though I suppose for some, it's one/same).

Gray definitely gets a place on my list, and a I agree on all Kleypas's bad boys. Lately, I'm also all about Mick Brody from Toni Blake's ONE RECKLESS SUMMER. And can I admit I've always liked the Austen bad boys and have kind of a thing for Frank Churchill? ;)

Her novels, for me, are ones that can be 'sunk into,' rather than simply read for enjoyment.

You nailed it, Michelle. That's exactly how I feel when I read one of Tessa's books. Her writing draws me in so completely that I become totally immersed in the story, as if I'm right there with the characters - riding through the English countryside or riding out a storm on the Caribbean - rather than curled up on my living room sofa. I swear, when ******SPOILER AHEAD***************

lightning struck the Kestral I could feel the electricity in the air, as if I had been right there on deck with Gray and Sophia. And, when Gray was posing for Sophia - (pages 202-206)- OH. MY. GAWD. I swear, I could feel every...single...thing! WOW!

Hi Tessa, Great excerpt !I read TGH and can't wait to read sophia's story !!My favorite bad boys are Nick Allegresa (Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson) and Lord Bramwell (Always a scoundrel by SUzanne Enoch). There must be others I'm forgetting of course but they are the first to come to my mind...

First, Michelle - thank you so much for having me, and thank you so much for your kind words about my books! It's always such a pleasure to be a guest hero, and it's a special treat to talk about my guys. :) I'm terribly fond of them.

Ev - I hope you enjoy it when you get a chance to read it! And how could i have forgotten to mention the goats? Really, I could have written a whole post about the goats. Ah, Roarke. I must admit, I haven't quite jumped on the Roarke train yet, but I think that's because my only In Death experiences have been of the audiobook variety, and the (female) narrator's affected accent kinda made me picture him like a leprechaun. :D Not his fault, I know. I really need to read the real thing sometime so I can immerse myself in the bad-boy goodness.

Hey, hey, hey, gals, seems to me you're working yourself in some kind of frenzy here. Do I have to act the chaperone again??? *makingaproperface*

Oh my gosh, how can I join this discussion since I still haven't gotten around to buy GOTH?!? I'll head over to Amazon right away and order it!

Now, as for bad boys, I love Anthony from Sabrina Jeffries's Let Sleeping Rogues Lie (one of my favourite titles, too, btw) because he turns out to be so very different from what everyone believes him to be. And of course Nick Gentry from Worth Any Price. I'll have to check my bookshelf for others 'cause I haven't been good in naming anyone without the visual support of my bookshelf lately - I've got the feeling my brain's gradually becoming a pudding.

But at the moment I'm wondering - is a bad boy the same as a rake?Oh my, I must appear so dumb for always asking those questions but you constantly make me think about things I've never thought about before.

omg, nessa! Orannia here at rbtb is a nut for "Knave's Wager!" I'll have to let her know she's got a fellow KW lover. And Dain's just the greatest. When I think of him, I always think of him in motion, for some reason. Do you know the term 'dynamism?' I think that's Dain, only, like, sensual dynamism, or something, like when he's dancing his bawd-house waltz. sigh...

Good to see you, Emannuelle! Big Suzanne Enoch fan, too, specially her older stuff. My girlfriend and I like to pronounce her last name to rhyme w/Binoche. :)just for fun.

Stacy - Thanks so much for reading (and loving) GOTH! I hope you enjoy SOAS, too. Sam Starrett...mmm, yes. Yes, and yes, and yes again. Love him and Alyssa.

PJ!!! You are the best. I'm so glad you enjoyed SOAS, and Gray. You will definitely be seeing more of him in ALOP, although he is in protective-brother mode there. Lisa Kleypas does EVERYTHING well...sigh. But yes, I'm dying to meet Harry Rutledge, too. He sounds delish, as her heroes always are.

Lindsey, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy Managing Editor schedule to drop by!! Frank Churchill? Does nothing for me. Henry Crawford? Now there's a rake I want to see redeemed. Thank goodness for fanfic.

Laurie, I haven't read either of those! This is the danger of starting a discussion like this - adds a yard to my TBR list.

Margay - I agree. LK does so many great heroes,but there's something about Derek that just makes him extra memorable. I am so dying for Leo's story now, and it's taking forever to get here...!

Vanessa -I am so behind the One Reckless Summer wave - I've heard fabulous things about it. I have to read it SOON.

Emmanuelle - Thank you so much for your comment, and for reading GotH! I see you everywhere. :) I really appreciate the support.

LisaK- I love Sabrina Jeffries! My favorite of her heroes is Lachlan from Beware a Scot's Revenge. Is a bad boy different from a rake? Hm... what a good question. I guess he could be. I mean, there are all sorts of ways to be bad. I think of Diaz, from Linda Howard's Cry No More...the guy is Bad and Danger itself, as in totally outside the law, but he has his own moral code and he doesn't sleep around at all.

Maureen-I am so behind, I still haven't read Blue-Eyed Devil (i know, i know...), but Hardy is absolutely mesmerizing, even from the first pages of Sugar Daddy.

Princess Bumblebee - You won a signed LC?? Oh, wow. Lucky, lucky you! All the heroes you name are absolutely delish. If you pick up GotH, I hope you enjoy it!

Tessa - Love the excerpt! I've got books two and three on order and can hardly wait to get my copies. I absolutely loved Goddess of the Hunt!

Lindsey - Great to see you here, and big time congratulations, too! Definitely Mick Brody, but also Rob Colter in Toni's Letters to a Secret Lover (even though he's a darker character in many ways). Was Lindsey in that story named as a shout-out to you?

I'd definitely include Dain from Lord of Scoundrels, Sebastian from Lisa K's Devil in Winter, Lucian from Lorraine Heath's In Bed With the Devil -- too many to list!

Becke, great additions to the list! Thanks so much for reading GotH! I hope you enjoy Sophia and Gray's story, too.

Pam P - Ah, more great bad boys! Sigh...so many scoundrels, so little time. All this is great inspiration for the book I'll be writing this winter. (Did I mention there'll be a new trilogy in 2010? ALL of them bad boys with good hearts, of one stripe or another.

Hi Tessa,Congrats on Siren. Been hearing such good things about this entire series. Just got Goddess so now it looks like I need Siren too :) I am a complete sucker for romances that happen on boats.. ya know the whole "love boat" thing :)

Anyways, my fav historical bad boy heroes are both by Lisa Kleypas..Nick Gentry and who can not love Derek Craven...he's one of my all time favs!

Thanks for the excerpt of Siren..both generous and cruel at the same time (since I don't have the book in front of me to keep reading).

Hi Tessa, I have been hearing so much about your books. I have not read any of this series but am wanting to. Your new book sound so darn good I can't wait to read it. I love me some bad boy too, but can't think of any right now. Thanks for sharing with us today.

If we're comparing Kleypas bad boy heroes, nobody compares to my Nick Gentry. In fact, as I was reading SOAS, I was reminded of Nick occasionally - Gray was a bad boy who so wanted to be bad but just couldn't help that he was a good guy at heart. And soooo loved Sophia. Just like my Nick.

Hi, Tessa and Michelle! I think St. Vincent is the first that comes to mind for me. And some of the others mentioned are on the TBR but I haven't gotten to them yet--might be a good weekend for some bad boys :)

Hey, I finally made it back. So sorry - as I was getting ready to leave the house this afternoon, my two little kids managed to pull over a massive dresser onto themselves, and the TV, etc on top of it. They were okay, thank goodness, just little scratches and such. But it was pandemonium for a while, and then I had to dart out to take care of other stuff....anyhow, back at home now. :)

etirv - thank you! I hope you enjoy the books when you get a chance to read them.

booklover - I had to chuckle at the love boat thing. Yes, I even named Gray's ship the Aphrodite (greek goddess of love) just because I couldn't resist making it the Regency-era love boat!

ev--I'm honored to be your travel reading! And Sophia, wanderlusty girl that she is, would be so pleased. I do believe she'd enjoy both LA and Vegas!

Lori, flchen, jane - how is it that LK does these guys SOOO amazingly well? I so wish I knew her secret.

Farrah--two more great ones to add to the list! Thanks so much for checking out my books. I hope you enjoy them, if you do pick them up.

Mari - Capt. Jack Sparrow is just plain adorable.

And he reminds me of another of my favorite fictional bad boys - one I kept in mind a bit as I wrote Gray: Han Solo! He talks as though he's only looking out for himself, but you just know there's a good, loyal heart in there.

Tessa, you write my kind of books. Am sure I'm too late for the contest, but wanted to say I like the excerpt. Will be looking for these books. Bad boys that are nice guys. That works.librarypat@comcast.net